Load catapulting toy railway car



Aug. 22, 1944. R. G. SMITH 2,356,280

' 'LOAD CATAPULTING TOY RAILWAY CAR Filed March 20, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheetl 67 J5 lNVENTgR 7 gig. 5 @gmdcsnabfl,

' ATI' o RNEY Aug. 22, 1944. R G SMITH 2,356,280

LOAD CATAPULTING TOY RAILWAY CAR Filed larch 20, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 vINVENTOR e nmdss m,

ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 22, 1944 LOAD CATAPULTING TOY RAILWAY CAR RichardG. Smith, Amsterdam, N. Y.

Uriginal application August 21, 1942, Serial No. 407,769. Divided andthis application March 20, 1943, Serial No. 479,840

15 Claims.

This invention relates to toy railway cars especially adapted foroperating performance beyond that of merely riding along a track andintended to appeal to the imagination of boys through the ability toimitate realistically certain industrial operations commonly associatedwith actual railroading such as the automatic unloading of toy logs orother toy load materials from a freight car.

It is an object of the invention to provide a toy vehicle, as forinstance a toy railway freight car or "flat car, with means capable ofoperating in response to remote control to dump or discharge a carriedload of make-believe logs or other toy load articles alongside the trackovei which the toy freight car travels. v

Another object is to equip a toy car with a load carrying and dumpingtable and with electromagnetic means adapted through remote electricalcontrol to cause such table to tilt abruptly for dumping its load andthen to become restored to a position in which it can retain a subsequent load while the car is located at some point along a course oftoy railway tracks beyond manual reach of the operator.

Another object is to eject or catapult toy load articles resting on amovable repository carried by thetoy car and with sufficiently abruptdischarging action to fling the carried load articles over and clear ofthe side of the car preferably by the action of an electromagnet.

A further object is to equip the catapulting repository with means toretain load articles or material thereon, such means upon occasionpreferably being collapsible, at least in part.

A still further object is to cause rollable articles such as toy logsdischarged from the car to be moved by gravity farther away from theside of the track than the spot at which they are deposited.

The foregoing and other objectives will appear in greater particularfrom the following description of preferred forms of the invention andshould also be considered in conjunction with certain description andillustrations appearing in my copending application Serial No. 407,769,filed August 21, 1942, from which the present case is divisional. In thedescription hereof reference is had to the accompanying drawingswherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a toyrailway car with a fragmentary section ofthe railway tracks on which it rides.

Fig. 2 is a view of the car and tracks of Fig. 1 in side elevation.

Fig. .3 shows an end view of the toy car taken in section through thetrack rails 0n the plane 33 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of thearrows.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of corner portions of certainparts of the toy car appearing in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 drawn on an enlargedscale.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view on a correspondingly enlarged scale of thetilting table and associated parts taken in section on the plane 5-5 inFig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged View taken in section through the toyfreight car on the plane 66 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of thearrows.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary endwise view of the dumping mechanism asappearing in Fig. 3 drawn on a still further enlarged scale.

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig, 7 showing the parts in the act ofdumping or catapulting a toy load article.

The toy railway flat car l0 will be understood to be equipped withconventional devices (not shown) at its ends for releasable coupling itto the ends of other toy railway rolling stock, thereby in usual mannerto make up a toy train that is impelled along the traction rails i l ofan electrified toy trackage which may include the usual form ofsimulated rail-supporting sleepers 9. The third or power rail 8 of thetrackage may be insulated, in conventional manner from sleepers 9 asalso is insulated a limited length of fourth rail further hereinafterreferred to.

The body of car ill incorporates a chassis base 81 supported pivotallyon trucks 6 affording bearings for axles of the traction wheels 5, allof which construction may be conventional for traveling on the beforementioned track rails H. Chassis base Bl carries fixed thereon a shorterhollow raised platform 5! having end walls 68, intermediate walls H, anda sloping or bevelled edge surface 69. Outside of and adjacent each endwall 68, car chassis 61 presents a bed surface or seat 63 on which isadapted to pivotally rest, roll and slide the rounded corners or rockerportions 12 of the turned down end flanges 48 of tiltable table 52. Thistiltable, load receiving table 52 may be termed an article ejector orarticle motivator and is of specialized construction and functions fornormally retaining one or more logs l4 thereupon and for, upon desiredoccasions, dumping a load of such logs off onto the inclined ways l5extending downward and away from the track rails. For this purpose thetiltable table 52 is provided along one of its long L- shaped edges withan upstanding fixed flange 54 rigid therewith. The opposite long edge ofthis tiltable table is flanked by a similar load retaining flange 64forming part of a collapsible apron 55.

Apron 55 comprises an elongated L-beam type of member and includes inaddition to load retaining flange 64 and in rigid relation thereto theanchored flange 65 which underlies an edge portion of tiltable table 52and is provided at each end with a trunnion lug 56 having a pivotalbearing of controlled looseness in hole 66 in each of the down-turnedend flanges 48 of tiltable table 52. When the tiltable table 52 iscollapsed into horizontal or load retaining position, the anchoredflange 85 of apron 55 rests upon the top surface of raised platform 5|and thus becomes fixedly sandwiched or clamped between said surface andthe overlying marginal portion of tiltable table 52. This holds the loadretaining flange 64 of the apron in firmly upstanding position.

A swingable article unloader is herein shown in the form of a crank-likebail 53 for tilting the table or load ejector 52 which bail is but oneform of an actuatable article unloading arm that may be anchored toejector 52 at a point fixed in relation thereto and extending therefromto below the car body to be actuated. In the illustrative form hereinchosen, the operating extremities or terminals 49 of ball 53 arepivotally engaged respectively with the end flanges 48 of the tiltabletable 52 at crank arms length from its fulcrum bearings afforded bynotches 59, of which there are four, two being in the end walls 68 ofraised platform 5| and two being in additional walls 7| intermediate endwalls 68 as best shown in Fig. 5. Crank-shaft portion '70 of bail 53 ispivotally anchored in such fulcrum bearings at 58 and derives supportalong its entire length by resting rotatably n the top surface 63 of thechassis. Centrally of bail 53 between the intermediate fulcrum bearings58, the stiff wire which forms this bail is looped to form a downwardextending bight which straddles the stem 58 of an electromagnet plungerthereby to be actuated by a crosswise extending element afforded by theenlarged head 41 of such plunger stem which reciprocates lengthwise in arectilinear path. As viewed in Fig. 6 the wire bight 51 is seen also tohave an elbow bend at 48 to facilitate its actuation by plunger head 41.Solenoid 59 of this electromagnet is fixedly suspended from the carchassis 5| and has its axis disposed crosswise the car.

For electrically energizing solenoid 59 one end of its winding may begrounded to the metallic chassis 61 of the car and thereby, through thetrucks 6 and traction wheels 5 of the toy freight car, maintained inconstant electrical circuit with the electrified track rails The otherend of the solenoid winding may be connected electrically to aconductive flexible current collector or shoe 6| which may take the formof a laterally projecting flexible coil of close helically wound wiremounted at its inner end on a depending plate 62 of insulating materialcarried by car chassis 8?. Examples of suitable details of constructionfor this form of current collector shoe are disclosed and claimed in mycopending application, Serial No. 337,625 filed May 28, 1940. Collectorshoe 6| is adapted to ride into and out of wiping contact with a limitedlength of fourth rail 60 mounted on and insulated from sleepers 9 inposition to be electrically contacted by the collector shoe while thetoy car occupies the position shown in Fig. 1. Suitable details ofconstruction for this fourth rail 60 are disclosed and claimed in thelast said copending application.

The operation of my improved toy article dumping or catapulting car willfor the most part be clear from the foregoing description of the mannerof operation of its several parts. When the current collector 6| arrivesin wiping contact with the fourth rail 60, or when such currentcollector is standing engaged with fourth rail 60 and the latter becomeselectrically energized from a remote point through circuit connectionsincluding an electrical controller such as is illustrated in Fig. 21 anddescribed in my aforesaid parent application Serial No. 407,769, theplunger 58 of solenoid 59 will be attracted toward the right in Figs. 3and 6. Previously the weight of the tiltable table 52 has held thistable down in load retaining position as shown in full lines in saidfigures and in Figs, 4 and 7. Now however the terminal head of plunger58 acts against the elbow formed in arm 5'! as shown in Fig. 6 andforces the crank members 49, 53, 51, ll] counterclockwise to its brokenline position in Figs. 3, 6 and 8, whereupon table 52 is rocked and canalso slide upon its supporting fulcrum 63 as it becomes tilted to itsbroken line position in Figs. 3 and 6 corresponding to its full linepositions in Fig. 8. Toward the end of the tilting movement of table 52the horizontal flange of apron 55 becomes released from its sandwichedimprisonment between table 52 and the car body platform 5| so that it isfree to swing downward out of load retaining position or collapse to itsfull -line position in Fig. 8 which permits a large load article, suchas make-believe log M, to slide or roll off from the table withoutinterference by apron lip 64. Obviously this feature of a collapsibleapron is not needed when the toy articles to be discharged are so lightin relation to the actuating force of solenoid 59 that the table 52 isflung upward with sufficient abruptness to project the dischargedarticles through space and over and clear of the side of the car and ofapron 55 in the latters ncollapsed position shown in broken lines inMany modifications of the particular forms and arrangement of partswhich are herein disclosed to illustrate the invention will be suggestedby this disclosure to workers in the art and the appended claims areintended to define and are directed to all fair equivalents and Wellknown substitutes for any of the particular constructions andrelationships of parts disclosed.

I claim:

l. A toy railway freight car for dumping toy loads, embodying incombination with a car chassis including a base presenting a bed surfaceand a raised platform fixed on and shorter than said base thereby toexpose a portion of said bed surface adjacent the end of said platform,a tiltable table of greater length than said platform and shorter thansaid base having a rocker portion rollably resting on said bed surface,and crank means pivotally mounted on said chassis pivotally engaged withsaid table in a manner to cause the latter to rock upon said base whensaid crank means swings relative to said chassis.

2. A toy railway freight car for dumping toy loads as defined in claim1, in which the said crank means for rocking the said table includes acrank-like bail having pivotal anchorage to said raised platform andpivotally engaging said table at crank arm length from said anchorage,

3. A toy railway freight car for dumping toy loads as defined in claim1, in which the said crank means for rocking the said table includes abail pivotally anchored in said raised platform and pivotally engagingthe said tiltable table and having an actuatable arm portion, togetherwith an electromagnet carried by the said car having a reciprocativearmature operatively engaging said arm portion for swinging said bail.

4:. Toy apparatus for unloading articles from toy cars, comprising incombination with a car body, a solenoid carried by and under said carbody having a horizontally reciprocable plunger, an ejector fulcrumed onsaid car normally held by gravity in a relatively low position, and abent wire crank shaft pivotally mounted on said car including a radiallyextending bight engageable by said plunger and further includingradially extending terminals propellingly engaged with said ejector in amanner to lift the latter when said solenoid is energized.

5. A toy railway freight car for dumping toy loads, embodying incombination with a car chassis including a base presenting a seat and araised platform fixed on and shorter than said base thereby to exposesaid seat adjacent the end of said platform, a tiltable table of greaterlength than said platform and shorter than said base rockably resting onsaid seat, crank means pivotally mounted on said chassis pivotallyengaged with said table in a manner to cause the latter to rock uponsaid seat when said crank means swings relative to said chassis, acollapsible apron pivotally anchored to the said tiltable tableincluding an anchoring flange releasably clamped between the said raisedplatform and said tiltable table when the latter is in substantiallyhorizontal position and a load retaining flange thereby held in uprightposition at the edges of said tiltable platform for retaining a toy loadupon said platform, whereby tilting of said table upward away from saidplatform releases said anchoring flange and permits said apron to swingto such position that said retaining flange may fall out of loadretaining position relative to said tiltable table.

6. Toy apparatus for unloading toy articles from toy cars, comprising ahorizontally extending toy car body, a solenoid coil carried by said carbody, a reciprocative actuator including a plunger magneticallyresponsive to said coil having rectilinear movement beneath said body, atippable ejector pivotally supported on and above said car body in amanner to swing between horizontal article retaining position andinclined article discharging position, and a swingable article unloadingarm anchored to said ejector at a point fixed in relation to the latterand extending therefrom to below said body and into the path ofrectilinear movement of said actuator to be motivated by the latter.

'7. Toy apparatus for unloading toy articles from toy cars, comprising ahorizontally extending toy car body, a solenoid coil carried by said carbody, a reciprocative actuator including a plunger magneticallyresponsive to said coil having rectilinear movement beneath said body, atippable ejector pivotally supported on and above said car body in amanner to swing between hori-- zontal article retaining position andinclined article discharging position, and a swingable article unloadngcrank pivotally mounted on said body and pivotally anchored to saidejector at a point fixed in relation to the latter and extendingtherefrom to below said body and into the path of rectilinear movementof said actuator to be motivated by the latter.

3. In toy apparatus for motivating toy articles carried by toy cars, thecombination of, a car body, a solenoid coil carried by said body havinga magnetic plunger reciprocative in a straight path, and a swingablearticle motivator pivotally supported on said car body, a crosswiseelement on said plunger, and a swingable arm operatively related to saidmotivator to cause the latter to swing, said arm extending crosswise ofsaid plunger and into the path of movement of said plunger element to beactuated by the latter.

9. In toy apparatus for motivating toy articles carried by toy cars, thecombination defined in claim 8, in which the said arm is bifurcate andstraddles the said plunger.

10. In toy apparatus for motivating toy articles carried by toy cars,the combination defined in claim 8, in which the said arm has a bendforming an elbow engageable by the said crosswise extending element ofthe said plunger.

11. In toy apparatus for motivating toy articles carried by toy cars,the combination defined in claim 8, in which the said arm is biiurcateand straddles the said plunger and also has a bend forming an elbowengageable by the said crosswise extending element of the said plunger.

12. In toy apparatus for motivating toy articles carried by toy cars,the combination defined in claim 8, in which the said arm comprises aloop of wire straddling the said plunger.

13. In toy apparatus for motivating toyarticles carried by toy cars, thecombination defined in claim 8, in which the said arm includes a lengthof stiff wire looped loosely about the said plunger and bent in a mannerto present an elbow into engagement with said crosswise extendingelement of the said plunger.

14. In toy apparatus for motivating toy articles carried by toy cars,the combination defined in claim 8, in which the said arm dependsbetween the said solenoid coil and the said crosswise extending plungerelement.

15. In a log discharging toy railway car, a car body including aplatform having a lateral edge extending lengthwise of the car, atiltable table on said car above said platform having an L- shapedlateral edge closely adjacent to and parallel with said platform edge,means to tilt said table about an axis disposed close to and parallelwith both said lateral edges, and a bevel on said lateral edge of saidplatform disposed to make room for said L-shaped lateral edge of saidtable when the latter is tilted about said axis.

RICHARD G. SMITH.

